Icovellauna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Icovellauna was a Celtic goddess worshipped in Gaul. Her places of worship included a temple in Metz, originally built over a spring;[1] a cult centre in Malzéville, from which five inscriptions dedicated to her have been recovered; and Trier.[2] All of these places lie in the valley of the Moselle or Meurthe rivers of eastern Gaul, in what are now Lorraine in France and Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany.
Miranda Green interprets the Gaulish root ico- as 'water' and characterizes Icovellauna as a "water-goddess" who "presided over the nymphaeum at Sablon in the Moselle Basin, a thermal spring-site".[3] The root uellauno- is glossed by Pierre-Henri Billy as "bon" (good);[4] the same root is also found in the names of a god Vellaunus, worshipped in Caerwent, Wales, and of Mercurius Victor Ma[g]niacus Ve[l]launus worshipped in Hières-sur-Amby, France.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] Works cited
- ^ Dyfed Lloyd Evans (2005). "Icovellauna: a Gaulish Goddess (Divine Pourer of the Waters)" from www.celtnet.org.uk, accessed 10 September 2006.
- ^ a b Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Editions Errance, Paris. ISBN 2-87772-200-7. p.45; pp.50,70.
- ^ Miranda Green (1986). The Gods of the Celts. Alan Sutton, Gloucs. ISBN 0-389-20672-5. pp.85, 165.
- ^ Pierre-Henri Billy. 1993. Thesaurus linguae Gallicae. Olms-Weidmann. ISBN 3-487-09746-X. p.189.
[edit] Further reading
- J-M. Demarolle. "Les eaux et le sacré dans la Lorraine antique". In L'eau en Gaule, rites sacrés et thermalisme. Dossiers d'Archéologie n° 174, 1 September 1992.
[edit] External links
- Le Sablon - du village à la ville. Includes a line drawing of Icovellauna's sacred well in Metz.
